Vision Impairment Tutor Becky wins University award
Congratulations are in order for National Star’s specialist tutor for students with a vision impairment Becky Sargent, who has just received a highly coveted award from the University of Birmingham for excellence in teaching children and young people with vision impairment.
University of Birmingham Award
Becky is a Qualified Teacher of Children and Young People with Vision Impairments (QTVI) who completed her Postgraduate Diploma for Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairments at the University of Birmingham. At the recent exam board, she was awarded the Martin Bradbury Award, by the University, for excellence in teaching children and young people with vision impairment. This award is given to a teacher who achieves an outstanding profile across both academic and practical components of the external teaching placement.
The value of a Qualified Teacher of Children and Young People with Vision Impairments
The role of a QTVI is varied. The type of support a learner receives is based on individual need and their funding. This may include providing direct teaching to develop essential skills that compensate for the learner’s vision loss to enable them to access education, such as braille and use of equipment. It also involves completing functional vision assessments that give the QTVI information to make recommendations for adjustments. The assessments can be used to suggest teaching strategies for those working directly with the learner to promote access to learning and independence in learning.
Educational impact of vision loss
It is widely recognised that vision loss can impact on progress in all areas of the curriculum, including communication, social, emotional and mental health. Therefore an essential part of Becky’s role is to work with the multi-disciplinary teams to raise awareness of the wider impacts a learner’s vision impairment has on their personal development and progress.
Following Becky’s award win, Lynette Barrett, Chief Executive said: ‘Becky has worked so hard to achieve this award and we are hugely proud of her achievements and the difference she makes to students with vision impairments at National Star.’
Becky is working across National Star in Ullenwood, Wales and Hereford to provide support to learners with vision impairments and their multi-disciplinary teams. She is keen to raise awareness amongst all staff around what we can all do to support learners with a vision impairment.
